...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

Monday, August 29, 2005

17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence . From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .

The defence called John Yallop OBE , an internationally-recognised authority on explosives ; he had spent thirty-two years as a (British) 'Home Office' explosives expert and was a former head of the British government's explosives laboratory .

He had written more than sixty scientific papers on explosives and related topics , and appeared in the courts as an expert witness on more than 400 occasions ;and he had actually invented the ' Thin Layer Chromtography ' (TLC) test !

The 'gist' of John Yallop's evidence was that the test , as conducted , had not conclusively proved the existence of nitroglycerine . He suggested that other substances could produce the same results in the test - household substances might do it .....

One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure ; aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .......

(MORE LATER).

THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO .......The Sinn Fein electoral wagon is slowing down . As a result , the IRA is likely to begin stepping up its war against the Northern State . GENE KERRIGAN reports from Belfast and also interviews Sinn Fein's DANNY MORRISON on the party's recent successes and failures . From ' MAGILL ' magazine , September 1984.

'MAGILL' Magazine : " Is it still seen within the Republican Movement as a long war , another twenty years ? "

Danny Morrison : " There was some Republican criticism that the 1978 declaration of a long war actually led to some demoralisation and deterred people from joining the Republican Movement because they thought , " Gee , there's not going to be an amnesty for Christmas , if I go to jail I'm not getting out for Christmas , I'm going in for a long time . "

That's possibly true . The point is , I think , that the IRA has to say what it believes , it has to tell the truth of how it sees things . The fact is that the Brits are'nt going to get out tomorrow or next year . It is going to be a long struggle , and people who join the Republican Movement obviously are entitled to be acquainted with that belief .

It's only fair on them . I would say , yes - still in terms of five to ten years . "

[END of 'THE IRA HAS TO DO WHAT THE IRA HAS TO DO' .](Tomorrow - 'Sinn Fein Alone' - from 1984 .)

THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court . He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 . In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .

Dr. Caraher examined Stephen Moore on three occasions while he was in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station ; on the first occasion , there were no abnormalities present in the patient , on the second occasion he appeared to be anxious and he had burns to the hair and he was complaining of pains . On the third occasion , the burns were still present and he had extensive bruising to the groin and thigh .

But this was not the first time that a detainee at Monaghan Garda Station had been awarded damages as a result of injuries sustained in garda custody -

- on 6 May 1978 , there was a Long Kesh protest march in Monaghan . As the protestors were dispersing , two squad cars loaded with gardai arrived on the scene and proceeded to make arrests under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act 1939 ; John Milne was amongst those arrested - he was taken to Monaghan Garda Station where he said that he was kicked , punched and beaten for about fifteen minutes by Detective Garda John McCoy and Garda Eamonn Flynn .

He said he was frightened and speechless ; his wife saw him in a cell and called for a doctor . A local Priest , Reverend Kevin Cassidy , said in court that he visited John Milne in the garda station but that he got no reply when he tried to speak to him . Doctor Michael Moloney saw John Milne on May 8 , 1978 , two days after his arrest , and he said that Milne was complaining of headaches and a sore neck .......